Byrd’s remains were left in front of this church after being dragged for three miles.

Six year-old Marlon Forward discovered James Byrd Jr.’s mutilated body the morning after the murder.

Logging chain – murder weapon

Shawn Berry’s truck – murder weapon

Bill King was the first white man in the state of Texas to be sentenced to death for the murder of a black man since the time of slavery. He is currently on Death Row and maintains that he is innocent.

Shawn Berry claims that he was too frightened to try and stop King and Brewer from killing James Byrd, Jr. that night. He is now serving a life sentence in solitary confinement and will be up for parole in 2038.

Captain James Carter accompanied Sheriff Rowles as he delivered the news of James Byrd’s death to the Byrd family.

Curtis Frame of the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department was the lead investigator on the Byrd case.

When Jasper County Sheriff Billy Rowles realized that this was no simple hit-and-run accident, but something resembling a hate crime, he called in the FBI to assist in the investigation.

As the President of the Jasper Ministerial Alliance, Rev. Bobby Lee Hudson served as an important spokesperson to the media and ministered to Shawn Berry while he awaited trial.

In the years since his father’s murder, Ross Byrd has become an ardent anti-death penalty activist. His tattoos memorialize his father.

Ronald King, the father of Bill King, sent his condolences to the Byrd family and expressed sorrow and disappointment over his son’s actions.